The Shared Son
by Jicklet
Summary: A conversation set during #35. Marco listens to Nora tell her side of the story.


A/N: The first paragraph is a direct quote from #35. (Thanks to Jeff   
Sampson for typing it up for me!) In the book, it was after the wedding;   
but in this fic, I decided to put it in a pre-wedding conversation. I   
couldn't imagine Marco and Nora would discuss such things after the   
wedding, but not even mention them before.   
  
  
  
She understood I wouldn't call her Mom. I had one mother. That's all I'd  
ever have, whether she was alive or dead.  
  
"Of course I understand. I, too, would find it best if you called me Nora.  
But I'd like you to understand something, too. I can't be your mother, but I  
still love you as a son. I can't help it. Because, in my case...you are all I  
have ever had." A tear rolled down Nora's cheek.  
  
I looked at my dad questioningly. What was going on? I mean, I'd welcomed  
Nora because I thought she'd make Dad happy. But it looked like she was in  
serious despair herself.  
  
"Your dad already knows, Marco," Nora said shakily. "And we agreed that you  
should know it before the marriage. I want you to know everything about me,  
so you can decide whether or not you want me living with you."  
  
"Don't tell me if it hurts you. I already know you well enough." I felt like  
adding, "I know that you're no Yeerk, and that you're good enough for my dad.  
What else should be important about you?"  
  
"Yes, it hurts me," Nora sighed. "But I'm glad if I can talk about it  
openly. If you become my stepson, I'll want you to know this.  
  
"It's that I can't have any children of my own. I found it out when...I  
learned to know someone, and I didn't want to marry him without making a test  
first. Then I told him he should marry another woman, one who could give him  
children. It wouldn't have been fair of me to take away his chance.  
  
"By that time I was too old to adopt kids. Maybe if I had met him earlier,  
if I had found out sooner... But this way, I just signed up for a course to  
become a foster mother. I'm a high-school teacher, I already knew children  
both in theory and practice. I thought maybe I could have some living with  
me, even if it was just temporary... And that's also why I was looking for  
the acquaintance of divorced dads."  
  
Divorced dads. Of course. They are more common than widowed ones. Of course  
she'd look for a divorced man, because she'd have better chances of finding  
one.  
  
And because she didn't care if her child had another mother. A real mother,  
better loved than Nora. Nora didn't care who she shared her child with, so  
long as she could have a child at all.  
  
"I thought that if I found a nice enough father, I'd marry him. Even if I  
wasn't in love with him. I'd marry him for the children's sake. But the  
wonderful thing about your father, Marco, is that I also love him for  
himself. But I'd have never found that out if it hadn't been for you.  
  
"When he first asked me out on a date, you know why I said yes? Because I  
knew him from the PTA meetings, and I could see how much he loves you and  
cares about you. That's what showed me what kind of person he was. But if he  
had been your uncle, an uncle who loved his nephew very much, but who was a  
bachelor -- I would probably have said no to him. I didn't want to go out  
with a bachelor, and perhaps pass my chance for a child. I could always look  
for a husband, even when he would already have to push me around in a  
wheelchair. But I had to look for a child while I was still middle-aged.  
  
"So, you see, if I marry your dad, then I will thank my husband to you,"  
Nora smiled through her tears. "But you should know that you're the single  
biggest gift in my life. I love your father, too, but a child, that's  
different."  
  
I didn't know what to say. Till now, I'd thought this marriage was something  
between Dad and Nora only. That it was just to make them happy with each  
other.  
  
I'd been the one who'd had to decide about their happiness. And I'd already  
made the decision. But that was before I knew how much I was involved in it.  
  
It turned out Nora cared more for me than for Dad.  
  
The problem was, Dad cared more for her than I did.  
  
It was all right to have Nora in Dad's life. As long as she wasn't too  
involved in my life. He could have two wives, but I didn't want to have two  
mothers.  
  
And yet I didn't want to send Nora back to being a sad, childless woman. No  
more than I wanted to send Dad back to being a sad widower.  
  
I didn't know what to say.  
  
"But why would you want me when you have Euclid?" I asked. "Don't you know  
how many advantages dogs have over children?"  
  
Dad and Nora laughed, although Nora still hadn't finished crying.  
  
"Perhaps there are some, but children have infinitely more advantages," she  
told me. "You don't have to be so modest. But I mean it seriously, Marco: I  
want you to think about it, whether you want me to marry your dad or not.  
Don't think that you *have* to agree, or else I'll fall into despair. I've  
been living alone till now, and that's also a way to be happy. But if I had  
you, I'd be even happier."  
  
I couldn't get out of this. If they married, then Nora would inevitably love  
me as her son. But was that possible without me loving her as my mother?  
  
Not that there was anything wrong with loving Nora. But I didn't want to  
love her the same way I loved Mom. I thought that kind of love should be felt  
towards only one person.  
  
Or at least, towards only one living person.  
  
And my mom could still be alive. She could still be out there, longing for  
her son, for her husband.  
  
Right now, I couldn't help her yet. But I could help someone else. I could  
have one lady less longing for me and Dad.  
  
"Take your time," Nora said. "It's important that you think for all the  
weeks or months that you need to. It's not like I must marry before I turn  
too old to have a child," she joked about herself.  
  
But I already had the answer ready.  
  
"You know that I can never love you like I love my mom. Which means I can  
never love you as much as you love me. But I do like you, and I want you to  
be as happy as possible. So if you want me to become your stepson, I'd be  
glad to do it. And I know you'd make a good stepmom. I know you well enough,  
I've been disturbing your classes since seventh grade."  
  
"Thank you. Thank you..." Nora searched my face for permission, and when  
she found it, she drew me into a tight hug. "I know you're tired of hearing  
it, but you do mean a whole lot to me. Forgive the sentimental old Nora..."  
  
I forgave her. I was feeling pretty sentimental myself.  
  
I guess sentimentalism can sometimes defy logic. That's why I could be a son  
to two ladies, while I only had one mother.  
  
It was absolutely insane. It made perfect sense. 


End file.
